For many years court and athletic clubs have been faced with the dilemma of trying to determine the number of handball/racquetball courts, and separately, squash courts, to have in their club to provide the facilities desired by their members. As the popularity of the different sports changes, so does the demand for the different types of courts and the needs of various clubs to convert existing courts or achieve a dual use for them.
The game of handball and the game of racquetball are played on a court of the same dimensions and therefore the term handball court and the term racquetball court will be used interchangeably to refer to the same court. The games of handball and racquetball are played utilizing all six surfaces of the court, namely the front wall, the floor, the two side walls, the rear wall and the ceiling. The rear wall in the courts in many clubs is partially or completely transparent to allow spectators to more easily watch the games.
There are two types of games commonly referred to as squash, namely "softball" squash and "hardball" squash. The two games are appropriately named for the relative hardness of the balls used for each. The rules are different for each and the prescribed court size can be different, depending on which regulating body's rules are followed.
Squash is played on a court in which the distance between the front wall and the rear wall is approximately eight (8) feet shorter than the court used for handball. Further, for the rear squash wall to meet squash regulations, it must be seven (7) feet in height, whereas in handball, the rear wall is required to be twelve (12) feet in height. The distance between the two sidewalls of a handball court is twenty (20) feet.
The current regulations governing the play of "softball" squash in the United States allow for the game to be played on twenty (20) feet wide courts, although other international governing bodies may prescribe twenty-one (21) feet. In any event, the various regulations are subject to change.
Courts constructed with dimensions for handball and racquetball play cannot also be used for squash unless a means to use an insertable and then removable, intermediate rear squash wall can be found.
In a typical athletic club, there are more handball courts than there are squash courts. However, with the gaining popularity of squash, there is an increasing demand for more squash court time and, consequently, for more squash courts. In order to meet the increasing demand of their members to play squash, athletic clubs are faced with the dilemma of building additional squash courts, at a substantial cost and assuming they have the space, or permanently converting existing handball courts. The latter is not popular among the clubs' handball and racquetball players.
In response to said dilemma, various companies have been attempting to provide a means to allow the same court to be used for both squash and handball. However, the current means heretofore attempted have created several problems and required substantial modifications, including structural modifications, to existing handball courts.
For instance, one system involves the use of a two part rear handball wall, namely a stationary part and a removable part. To convert the court for use for squash, the removable part of the wall is detached and moved into the court to become the squash rear wall. The movement of the removable part of the wall is generally facilitated by a tracking system that must be installed in the floor and/or side walls of the existing handball court. The removable part of the wall, which is the rear squash wall, comprises glass panels and a frame means. The reverse is accomplished to convert the court back for use for handball.
The problems with these systems are, without limitation: they require substantial modification of the rear wall of existing handball courts to allow the glass section to be inserted and removed to accomplish the conversion(s); the tracking system generally requires that recessed grooves be installed, which creates a change in the playing surface on the side walls and interferes with the playing of handball when the ball contacts said grooves; and it is difficult to move the rear squash wall to the location for use in squash, and then difficult to insert it back into the rear handball wall to allow handball to be played.
The existing court conversion systems typically utilize at least a partial glass or transparent surface and some sort of metallic structural frame member, which also becomes a part of the playing surface on the rear wall. This leads to inconsistent bounces off the wall during play and is undesirable.
Our handball court conversion system eliminates the problem of requiring substantial modification to the rear wall of the existing handball court because our invention does not require any modification to the existing rear handball walls.
Our invention eliminates the problems associated with the tracking system interfering with play, by eliminating the need for tracking system altogether.
Our invention greatly reduces the problem of experiencing inconsistent bounces of the handballs off the walls due to frame members comprising part of the playing surface, by eliminating the frame and structural members from exposure on the surface of play. Instead, the playing surface panel(s) are placed directly adjacent to one another and are fixed to the structural components by a suitable adhesive means.